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<br />. <br /> <br />state agency. Minn. Stat. 88.171, subd. 9. The commis- <br />sioner may invoke a burning ban when he deter- <br />mines that it is necessary to prevent wildfires. <br />During such a ban the commissioner can suspend <br />issuance of permits for open fires, revoke or <br />suspend the operation of a permit previously <br />issued, and prohibit all or some kinds of open fires <br />in the area. Minn. Stat. 88.22, subd. 1(b). Any violation <br />of the burning ban is a misdemeanor. Minn. Stat. <br />88.22, subd. 3. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The statute also defines several other acts or <br />omissions which could result in criminal prosecu- <br />tion. It requires the occupant of any property <br />where any unauthorized fire is burning, regardless <br />of who started the fire, to promptly report the fire <br />to the nearest forestry office or fire department. <br />Minn. Stat. 88.16, subd. 3. Failure to make this report <br />is a misdemeanor and the occupant of the premises <br />is prima facie guilty of negligence if the unre- <br />ported fire spreads from the property or causes <br />damage, loss, or injury to another person, another <br />person's property, or the state. Minn. Stat. 88.16, subd. <br />3. Prima facie guilt is a presumption of guilt <br />which can be rebutted with sufficient evidence to <br />the contrary. <br /> <br />Any person who starts a fire and fails to control or <br />extinguish it before the fire endangers or causes <br />damage to the property of another person or the <br />state is guilty of a misdemeanor. Minn. Stat. 88.195, <br />subd. 1. Any person who has a burning permit and <br />fails to keep the permitted fire contained within the <br />area described on the permit or fails to keep the <br />fire restricted to the materials specifically listed on <br />the permit is also guilty of a misdemeanor. Minn. <br />Stat. 88.195, subd. 2. It is a misdemeanor to care- <br />lessly or negligently start a fire that endangers or <br />causes damage to the property of another person or <br />the state. Minn. Stat. 88.195, subd. 3. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Any person who participates in an act involving <br />careless or negligent use of motor vehicles, other <br />internal combustion engines, firearms with tracers <br />or combustible wads, fireworks, smoking materi- <br />als, electric fences, torches, flares, or other burning <br />or smoldering substances which causes a fire to <br /> <br />start and is not immediately extinguished before <br />the fire endangers or causes damage to the prop- <br />erty of another person or the state is guilty of a <br />misdemeanor. Minn. Stat. 88.195, subd. 4. In addition, <br />any person who operates a vehicle in a wildfire <br />area when the ground is not snow-covered with an <br />open exhaust cut-out, without a muffler, without a <br />catalytic converter if required, or without a spark <br />arrestor on the exhaust pipe is guilty of a misde- <br />meanor. Minn. Stat. 88.195, subd. 5. <br /> <br />Every county with any tract of 1,000 or more <br />contiguous acres of trees, brush, grasslands, or <br />other vegetative material where the potential for <br />wildfire exists is a wildfire area. Minn. Stat. 88.01, <br />subd. 6. Under this definition, every county in the <br />state is a wildfire area. It is also a misdemeanor for <br />any person to operate a tractor, chainsaw, or other <br />combustion engine not equipped to prevent fires. <br />Minn. Stat. 88.195, subd. 5. <br /> <br />Local regulation <br /> <br />A local government may adopt an ordinance which <br />is more restrictive than the state statutes so long as <br />the ordinance does not contradict any statute. For <br />instance a local government may further restrict <br />the hours of open burning or the materials which <br />may be burned. However, a local government <br />could not allow burning when the state statutes <br />prohibit it. <br /> <br />Additionally, if a county adopts more restrictive <br />standards than the state, cities and townships <br />within that county would be required to enforce <br />the more restrictive standards. A city may adopt a <br />more restrictive open burning ordinance than the <br />state or the county. Even if a city has no ordinance, <br />local police officers and other city officials are <br />obligated to enforce the state open burning law or <br />the county ordinance if it is more restrictive. <br /> <br />Most of the regulations that a city may wish to <br />adopt on open burning are found in the state <br />statutes. Consequently, many cities adopt the state <br />statutes by reference or set out the pertinent por- <br />tions of the state statutes in a local ordinance and <br />